Course Overview

Why take this course?

With computers infiltrating every element of our society, we now need specialist people to create, understand and advance computer science.

Through the study of computer hardware, software, programming, computation and information processing, this course enables you to specialise in the more technical aspects of computer systems design.

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

Apply your skills to real-life practical problems as part of the department’s partnership scheme with charities, local and global organisations

Design and develop software, hardware and networks for a variety of fields such as digital forensics and artificial intelligence

Opt to do a salaried placement year

What opportunities might it lead to?

Accredited by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered IT Professional (CITP). This course also partially meets the academic requirement for registration, either as a Chartered Scientist (CSci) or (on behalf of the Engineering Council) as a Chartered Engineer (CEng).

Studying this degree will enable you to gain employment in a variety of fields in the computing industry.

Here are some routes our graduates have pursued:

IT management

network design

software engineering

computer programming

web development

If you are interested in becoming a Computer Science teacher, you will be able to combine your computing studies with teacher training and school teaching placements. You will receive a £9000 bursary in your final year and gain Qualified Teacher Status alongside your BSc Computer Science degree, allowing you to apply for a teaching position.

I've always been interested in computer science, artificial intelligence and data mining, and this course meets every one of these interests!

Structure & Teaching

Year one

In the first year we aim to supply you with the central skills and knowledge that you will need as a computer scientist. The areas covered will include programming, computer systems and networks.

You will specifically focus on the following areas:

introductory programming

computer architecture

foundations of the web

network fundamentals

database design and development

Year two

There’s a selection of topics covering more advanced aspects of your first year. You’ll also have the opportunity to specialise in particular areas of interest, such as computer graphics, and developing web-based systems.

You will specifically focus on the following areas:

software engineering

data structures and algorithms

advanced programming concepts

mathematical foundations of computer science

operating systems and networks

Year three*

In your final year, you will carry out a final-year project utilising the skills learned during your course and your areas of interest within computer science.

You will specifically focus on the following areas:

distributed systems and parallel programming

theoretical computer science

neural networks and genetic algorithms

advanced networks

computer security and cryptography

fuzzy logic

data warehousing and mining

*This course is also available as a 4-year sandwich (work placement)

Teaching and Assessment

Here at the University, we aim to provide a lively and modern learning environment. During this course you will experience a mixture of lectures, tutorials, laboratory and project work. While lecture classes can be large, the more personal approach of seminars and tutorials offer more one-to-one support from our expert academics.

How are you assessed?

We assess you in ways that encourage a deeper understanding and allow you to develop your skills including through:

multiple choice tests

essays

written exams

mini projects

presentations

review articles

Tutor's view

Shelley WardComputing

At the heart of any successful business is the staff, IT infrastructure and the information systems used to carry out day-to-day business functions. This course uniquely gives you a broad understanding of computing and information systems development and management as well as the business context within which they operate.

Facilities & Features

Specialist Software and Equipment

Tutor Centre

Maths Café

The Maths Café - drop in any time and get one-to-one help

University Library

Our library offers a wealth of information

Specialist Software and Equipment

A full range of industry software will be available for you to use in the computer labs, supported by multi-platform network suites offering a variety of operating systems. You’ll have a range of excellent resources at your fingertips including:

mobile computing lab to develop Android and iOS apps

pervasive computing lab for high performance computing

usability lab including state of the art eye tracking equipment

Linux and Windows systems

forensics lab with industry standard forensic tools

Tutor Centre

A one-stop academic help and support resource for all School of Computing students. Need help understanding your assessments? Want to talk to someone about your project or about that programming problem? This is the place to go.

Maths Café

Drop in any time and get one-to-one help with that tricky maths or stats problem. With handouts on key topics to take away and computer-aided learning packages, we can get the problem solved and help you improve your numeracy skills.

University Library

Modern, comfortable and a great learning environment, our library offers a wealth of information including 400,000 books, DVDs, maps and thousands of online ejournals and newspapers. Many electronic resources are available anywhere, 24/7 and our friendly staff are always on hand to help.

A special feature is the ability to take a year out in industry between year two and three which really helped further develop skills learnt from my course.

Darren Hale, BSc (Hons) Computer Science student 2013

Budgeting for your studies

There are extra costs associated with studying, which you will need to consider when planning your expenditure.

Recommended texts:
If you wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow from the University Library, the average price is £50-£60. You may be studying up to 6 units a year, each with a standard recommended text.

General costs:
We recommend that you budget £75 a year for costs of photocopying, memory sticks, DVDs and CDs, printing charges, binding and specialist printing.

Final year project:
If your final year includes a major project, there could be cost for transport or accommodation related to your research activities. The amount will depend on the project you choose to develop.

Careers & Opportunities

Career prospects

Where next?

On graduating from this course, you’ll be fully equipped to take your first steps towards a career in the technical computing environment. Possible employers include multinationals down to the smallest computer companies including software houses, communications companies, data warehouses and many other types of organisation.

It’s also fairly common for our graduates to be snapped up by the employer they worked for in their placement year. Others continue their study at both MSc and PhD levels, specialising further in areas such as artificial intelligence, parallel and distributed systems, and healthcare informatics.

Overall you will be well qualified for many of the major computing graduate programmes or employment in varied fields of the computing industry.

Roles our graduates have taken on include:

business continuity analyst

software engineer

web developer

systems analyst

computer programmer

Work experience

Employment boosting opportunities

On this course you have the option to do a year UK or overseas placement with companies such as IBM or smaller organisations. This is a great opportunity to gain real-world perspective and exciting opportunities.

Our team at the Student Placement and Employability Centre (SPEC) ensures you have access to a range of volunteering and work experience opportunities. We also offer support during your year-long industrial placements, and provide support for the different types of application processes.

Here are some examples of the roles our students have secured for their placements:

Software Engineer at Xerox

Developer at Cranfield University

Associate Software Engineer at Accenture

Career planning

To make sure you take the right steps on your career path, we’re here to give you help, support and advice throughout your study. Even after you’ve graduated, we continue to give you support for up to five years.

Employers tell us that they want graduates to be able to demonstrate certain skills when they come out of university. Our courses take account of this. We make sure we prepare you for employment through work-related learning, projects, placements and working in simulated environments that are designed to prepare you for the working world.

The course has really changed my life massively. Not many people can say that they've gone from working as a lifeguard to working for the biggest pharmaceutical company in the world at managerial level within four years.